In a managed information environment, such as a local area network (LAN), a large number of individual nodes (i.e. computers) typically interconnect to exchange programs and data in the course of serving a user community. Each of the nodes executes, or performs, one or more software processes, which are memory based entities based on a programmed sequence of coded instructions, typically stored as a program file, or executable. Each of the conventional processes is started by executing the program file, including reading the coded instructions from storage, loading them into memory, and commencing execution. Typically, the execution is responsive to direct or indirect user instructions to initiate a certain task which the executables are operable to perform. In a conventional storage area network, for example, the executables often correspond to agent processes (agents) which monitor and manage various entities in the LAN. In a typical LAN, there may be many conventional nodes each executing multiple agents. The agents are responsive to a conventional management application, such as a Simple Network Management Protocol application or other suitable control program, executing on a conventional server node connected to the other nodes in the LAN, typically called hosts. Such a LAN configured for interconnection between a plurality of storage arrays and the hosts and agents which manage them is often referred to as a storage area network (SAN).